Colombia, The Only Risk is Wanting to Stay, is a great video with a similar theme. It contains highlighting destinations, amazing scenic views and a welcoming voice in Spanish and English. I can see how Colombia is becoming an exotic destination, generating new incomes and jobs for Colombians and great experiences for the people who decide to visit it.

Browsing videos for this post I found a behind the scenes of 100 % Pure New Zealand, which super worth a look.

I look forward to see a great video highlighting Iguazu, Salta, Mendoza, Patagonia and Buenos Aires, with amazing scenic views and a welcoming voice saying what Argentina has of special.

Thanks Fantasma for the video below! We still need to create the story around

When I left Argentina I felt I was leaving most of my people, especially family and friends because of a crazy idea of travel for one year with just my backpack and my wonder of what was coming forward.

Like Argentina, New Zealand had made a mark in my self and I hope I never forget that it is possible to build an awesome country, with honest and happy people working together to achieve something much bigger than the only additions of its parts.

Thank you very much to all the people whom made my time unforgettable, I really appreciate it and I hope one day you all can come to Argentina to see the country that my generation is building.

I don’t want to extend much more with this post, just share with all of you the first video that I’ve seen before coming to New Zealand, which gives the name to this post. I remember the feeling after I watched it and today it is not different.

On Friday 12th I’m finishing my work with Results and on Saturday morning I’m flying to Christchurch, which is a city in the middle of the south island on the east cost. I’m going to stay until Monday, when I have a ticket to take the Trans Scenic, a train which goes from Christchurch to Picton, which is a town in the north of the south island, called Tasman bay region. In Tasman bay I’ve planned to do a 3 days tramping (it is how kiwis refer to hiking) and one of the most famous ocean kayaking circuits in the world. Later I’m going to start going south, all around the west cost, spending couple days at Mount Cook and Milford Sound. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in NZ, and if the weather conditions allow it, I’d love to try to climb it.

I have no idea how I’m going to travel all around the south island during the two weeks, except for the train from Christchurch to Picton, but I really don’t care a lot about it and I think hitchhiking is going to be a good index to see how nice people traveling in NZ is J.

On the 28^th of March I’m flying from Christchurch to Sydney and the day after, I’m flying to US where I’m going to stay for 3 weeks. In US I’m meeting with one of my brothers, Santi, and his girlfriend, May, meanwhile we all spend gorgeous time with little Benja. I know all of these is going to let me recharge my batteries for the second part of chapter 25!

After US I’m flying to Cairns, north of Australia, where I’m going to try to find a boat to go to Papua New Guinea, until Cairns is where my plans go for the moment. Later I only know the time that I have to travel and that I’ll really want to see Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar (maybe), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Japan. Choosing one of those destinies to volunteer at a local non-profit organization.

I don’t have any contact, even friend of friends of friends from Indonesia, Myanmar or Laos so if you have any email or contact to share with, it is going to be more than welcome.

There is a lot coming the following months and it is going to be completely different from the past seven. I’m really looking forward to starting with it!

February 1st (Monday here) was Auckland’s anniversary so it was holidays and a long weekend was almost starting. On Sunday I had my first surfing experience, it was pretty good and not as difficult as I thought and after the 4th or 5th wave I was able to stand up on the board moving forward to the sea, what it was an amazing feeling!

Monday was different and it is where the story starts, if I’m writing this post is because I’m fine ☺. In the afternoon, Anna, Allysa and Jackie were suppose to go to watch a movie after surfing, so Kyle and me, decided instead of surfing and going for the movie, kayaking to an island and take the surfing boards later, when we return, and before the girls go to the cinema.

With Kyle (Jackie’s brother) we kayaked to an island. The island has the form of a dona because there is an internal lake inside of it, connected by a cave. The only way to get in is when the tide is low and there are not big waves. Before we were in front of the entrance of the cave we doubted to get in or not but we were almost there so after paddling quite fast we were on the cave and on the way to the small lake. We left the kayak in one of the internals beaches to walk around of it.

While we were walking, we found a second cave, much more smaller, which guided us to get out of the island so the real connections with the ocean were two, one quite big where we were able to kayak through and a second one smaller where we cradled and swam. The problem was that tide started coming up and waves growing, pushing and pulling all what was on them way and going back to collect the kayak was not a possible rational idea (maybe before neither), so at that moment we realized we both were stock in this second cave and not able to move forward or to return back, until the waves were smaller or tide came down.

In one moment, a big wave pushed us to the rock and it was why we were bleeding when the lifeguards rescued us but all the other time while we were waiting was not bad. Because we had not returned to meet the girls, they called the lifeguards and they went to look for us.

After circumnavigated the island and because they didn’t see us, they returned to the cost to ask the girls if they thought it was possible for us be inside of the island, they said maybe… so they returned and it was when we saw the BP lifeboat.

After the rescued, filled out some forms and checked that we were in ¨good¨ conditions we invited them to have some drinks. I thought to cook a big bbq for all of them but Andrew, the owner of the house who had returned on Sunday night, invited us to have dinner on the city.

We ended the night with 4 of the lifeguards, Andrew, his wife and daughter, Anna, Allysa, Jackie, Kyle and me playing beer pong and a very fun trivia. They all have a very special mention in personajes, I own them a lot ☺.

Couple very important things:

• The lifeguards said it was far one of the best rescues in the last seasons (the problem was that I was involved on it).
• If the article from the Whangamata´s newspaper came up I’m going to post it in this blog.
• The island was one of the most beautiful places that I ever been or seen and I always been curios by caves, however I know it doesn’t worth all what we did (sometimes don’t return before climbing to the pick of the mountain, because of weather, could cost you a limb in the best of the cases, and in this situation, with out mountain, it was not different, and I had to know it).

Finally THANKS to all, especially Matt, Andrew and Jackie.

In New Plymouth we saw a live music show under TSB Bank Festival of Light that it was really cool and the next day we did one of the Taranaki volcano trekking on a raining day, spending the second night of the trip, at Wanganui. We arrived later in the night and we couldn’t find any hostel so we stopped by a police station to ask for it and a police officer escorted us to one. I knew that she´d not accept some caramelos of dulce de leche, however I offered them to her as a way to say thanks for have escorted us to the hostel what she answered: I´m in service and it is part of my work to make tourist comfortable with my city, thanks anyway… (One day the same is going to happen in Argentina)

On the third day we went to Wellington, NZ capital, which is beautiful. There are people playing music all over a pedestrian street and there is a lot to do futhermore the botanic gardens, Wellington museum and Victoria mt. In the Wellington museum it is the biggest octopus ever found it, almost 8mt, I remember reading the article in La Nacion when they cached it 3 years ago. In Rotorua we did Zorbing what is a recreation of rolling downhill in a plastic and transparent orb (there are some pictures in the gallery)! Finally enjoy the video of 4 kids playing sticky music in Wellington (I didn’t know that my camera didn’t record sounds when you zoom in or out on the video function, Samsung you should work on it)

• I learned that Wanganui is the longest navigable river in New Zealand.
• I learned that in Napier was level by an earthquake on 1931 and it was rebuilt with an art deco style.
• I learned that Taupo Volcano was the largest eruption during the last 20,000 years and Chinese people has created a machine to calculate earthquakes on 132AD, little before 1935 Richter´s magnitude.
• I learned that Mt Taranaki was with the other volcanoes in New Zealand but because Taranaki dared to make advances to Pihanga and was reproach by Tongariro (other volcanos from NZ) a battle ensued between them and because Taranaki lost he had to move to the west cost (Maori legend)
• I learned that Pablo Escobar had his bunker under an artificial lake with crocodiles and hippopotamus and I learned the differences between the paramilitary and the FARC.
• I learned that you need to check the lights are off before you get off the car.

Enjoy the pictures of this trip.

I met Paula, my friend from Colombia, on Melbourne. We studied at the same university and we traveled to Great Ocean Road with Juan and some other Colombians. During this 2nd trip together she was in charge of make the car a mess and to try to read the maps. She also asked me the most random questions that someone ever asked me, such as: If you have to create a super hero what powers would you give him?

Little notes:

First note: Paula was number 7 at the ICEFS, what is an exam from the Colombian government to test all the students in the superior educational system in Colombia.

Second note: In one moment I asked her the number of the road that we were on and she told me 70….. it was a speed warning sign. It was the first time that I thought the ICEFS was not well measurable.

Third and final note: After all the journey she said, in clear Spanish and not even drank, Tengo otitis en un ojo, what in English I suppose is: I have an ear infections in one eye…. so I called the educational ministry of Colombia that something was seriously wrong.

Even all of those little notes I know that Paula is brilliant and the trip was lot of fun, now I´m looking forward to see the south island, probably by march.